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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1993)
K2i— nfws dig f st Nasskm Edited by Jeff Singer X lX—/ VV L/ X^/IVJJ—/ kJ X Friday, Novambar 12,1993 Aidid skips latest peace talks MERC A, Somalia — Marines came ashore at this Somali coastal town Thursday, briefly putting aside their weapons to help out at clinics and win some good will in a nation where that sentiment is often hard to come by. In the capital of Mogadishu, U.S. and U.N. officials were stood up for the second time in four days by Gen. Mohamcd Farrah Aidid’s Somali National Alliance. The fac tion belonging to his rival, Ali Mahdi Mohamcd, also was to have attended the meeting. Army Col. Steve Rausch, the U.S. military spokesman, criticized Aidid’s faction for backing out at the last minute without giving a reason. The group also failed to show up Monday, then agreed Wednesday to attend another ses sion Thursday. “It is really disappointing that they didn’t show,” Rausch said. “We hope to have full involve ment in the future. We know these things ebb and flow.” About 400 Marines deployed in the region around Mcrca for four days to help out at medical and dental clinics set up for Somali civilians four miles to the south. They are also to take part in joint exercises with the Moroccan troops who control the area for the United Nations. The Marines came ashore aboard three air-cushioned land ing craft which churned up walls of foam with their huge fans. In a little over an hour, Humvees, trucks and water trailers were ruak ing their way to the Marines’ tem porary home. The 200-by-600-yard area had a spectacular ocean view, and some military advantages, including a dirt landing strip and flat area for helicopters to touch down. The loose sand also made it easy to dig foxholes. The Marines did plenty of that Thursday, frequently taking breaks to get used to the heat and humid ity in this region 30 miles from the equator. The only shade was un der two tents made from camou flage netting. Platoons took turns taking breaks there. About 1,950 Marines from Camp Pendleton have been based on a four-ship expeditionary unit off shore. Officials look at reasons for deadly crash CANTERBURY. England — A doctor who treated Americans injured in a tourist bus crash said Thursday that nine passengers might not have died if they had been wearing safety belts. The crash on Wednesday, which also killed the British driver, has fo cused attention on a dispute within the European Community about safe ty belts. “It is apparent that those who died were thrown out of the side of the coach, which landed on top of them,” said Dr. Susan Brooks, director of accident and emergency services at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. “Had they been restrained within the coach, they would have been pro tected.” Police said the coach clipped a van, then careened off the M2 high way in southeastern England and shot down a 20-foot embankment. Robert Key, the government min ister responsible for roads, said Brit ain had been pressing for European Community rules requiring seat belts on buses. Officials at EC headquarters in Brussels said coach manufacturers are required to attach safety belts only to “exposed scats" — those in the front of the bus and along the aisle. Britain, Denmark and Germany have joined the community’s execu tive agency in pushing for tougher regulations that would require all scats to be equipped with seat belts. Although Britain could require British manufacturers to install belts throughout, it could not bar buses from other EC nations. One woman, who was not identi fied, remained in intensive care at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, oper ated by the government’s National Health Service. She was conscious and making progress, the hospital said. British tourbus disaster A bus carrying American tourists to Canterbury Cathedral careened off a rain-slicked highway, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30 when it plunged down an embankment. Sequence of events: 1. Bus clips rear of transit van at high speed. 4. Bus flips over onto drivers side. 2. Bus goes into a tail-spin. 5. After sliding the bus comes to 3. Rear of bus smashes through crash barrier, rest on 40° embankment. Source Kent County Police Department AP Two of the 19 people hospitalized overnight were released and eight oth ers were expected to leave during the day. Six people had surgery for bro ken limbs. “They are being very well cared for,” said U.S. Consul-General Eliz abeth Ann Swift. “In terms of morale they’re bearing up very well.” Carla Walker of Lafayette, La., broke down and cried as she walked into the hospital to visit 75-year-old Patricia BccncI, who lost two of her four daughters in the accident. Ms. Walker, the fiancee of Mrs. Becnel’s eldest son, Tom, said the mother and her two surviving daugh ters “are doing quite well.” “We will be bringing the Becnel family home soon,” she said. “There’s definitely an upside. Three did survive and they’re all very close.” -*• Sports wire Irish quarterback confident before big game SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Before Notre Dame’s final preseason scrim mage, quarterback Kevin McDougal tola coach Lou Holtz that he could lead the Fighting Irish to the national championship. That was a mighty bold statement considering Holtz had just informed his senior signal caller he would prob ably start tne season on the bench, backing up freshman Ron Powlus. “I’m thinking, ‘We can’t even get a first down, and he’s talking about a national championship,’” Holtz said. At the time, McDougal was play ing poorly and looking like a bcnchwarmcr. Now he’s looking like a prophet. McDougal, who became the start er when Powlus broke his collarbone in that final scrimmage, has led the Irish to a 9-0 record and No. 2 rank ing heading into Saturday’s show down against No. 1 Florida State. If Notre Dame beats Florida State, McDougal’s prediction of a national championship could well come true. “You can’t destroy his confidence. You can’t get him riled up. You can’t get a smile off his face,” Holtz said. Florida State’s Charlie Ward is considered the top quarterback in the country and the Heisman Trophy fa vorite. Ward has gotten a lot more publicity than his Irish counterpart, but McDougal doesn’t mind. “I like being in the background — it’s more relaxing,” he said. “1 just wait and turn it on at gametime.’r Nel>ra£kan FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a m and 5 p m Monday through Friday The public also has access to the Publications Board For information, contact Doug Fiedler, 436-7862 pffCe |0 ^ SfQ |q^ QP0 y00^ Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448 Second-class postage paid at Unooto, NE. ALL MATER(AL copyright 1993 DAILY NEBRASKAN Pair of freight trains collide in Washington KELSO, Wash. — Two freight trains slammed into each other Thurs day, flinging cars in the air, a fireball into the midnight sky, and thousands of gallons of flaming diesel fuel all around. A crewman’s body was lound near the wreckage of the two trains, which were pulling more than 80 cars each and traveling at least 40 mph when they collided head-on just south o( this southwest Washington town. The four other crew members were unac counted for. “The train just started tumbling and flying straight up in the air. It was horrible, just horrible,” said Randy Pinson, who was northbound on Interstate 5 less than a quarter mile away when the trains collided. The accident, which occurred shortly after midnight, “lit up the sky and gave us a backdrop to sec,” he said. Rail cars “went straight up in the air, at least 100 feet straight up,” said John McGanncy, who was traveling with Pinson. Washington State Patrol trooper Dean Burt, working nearby, reported “the biggest ball of fire you could imagine — a mushroom and a big ball of flames.” Rescue teams with search dogs waited until about 8 a.m. for the wreckage to cool before approaching the crushed, burned-out engines. As early morning fog lifted, a helicopter searched the area for signs of the crew members. The collision involved a southbound Burlington Northern rain, cn route from Everett to Portland. Ore., with five engines. 110 cars and a crew of three, and a northbound Union Pacific train, headed from North Platte to Seattle with 83 cars, three locomotives and a two-mem ber crew. Railroad officials did not imme diately release the crew members’ names. The body recovered at the scene was that of a Burlington North ern crew member. More than 20 cars derailed, but none of the derailed cars were carry AP ing hazardous materials, Cowlitz County Sheriff Brian Pedersen said. Some cars and other debris were thrown into the southbound lanes of nearby Interstate 5, and the freeway was closed for several hours. About 10,000 gallons of fuel were spilled by the eight locomotive en gines, but about half of it burned off. A Federal Railway Administra tion crew was dispatched to investi gate the cause of the accident and a National Transportation Safety Board team wasen route from Washington, D.C.. officials said. The accident’s cause was not im mediately determined. The track has an automated elec tronic signal system to control traf fic, said Ed Trandahl. a Union Pacif ic spokesman at railroad headquar ters in Omaha. Burlington Northern spokesman Gus Melonas said the track and signals, owned and operat ed by BN. arc inspected almost dai ly. Disney plans to build theme park in Virginia HAYMARKET. Va. — Undaunt ed by staggering losses from its Eu ropean venture, the Walt Disney Co. pressed forward Thursday with plans for a “Disney America” theme park near a Civil War battlefield in Vir ginia. Disney selected a 3,000-acrc site in the rolling, heavily wooded north ern Virginia countryside after an ex haustive search, said Peter Rummcll, president of Disney Design and De velopment Company. The opening-date target is 1998. Rummell said Disney would in vest “hundreds of millions of dol lars” in the project, a 100-acrc park surrounded by a residential and com mercial development. “We’re here because we think we can succeed. We don’t plan on quitting,” he said. The goal, he said, is to build a theme park that will complement nu merous historical attractions in the nation’s capital, some 30 miles to the cast, as well as Civil War battlefield sites in Manassas and Fredericksburg, Va., and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home near Charlottesville, Va. The plans include a Civil War-era village and fort, an American Indian setting including a waterway for raft ing, exhibits and show halls telling the story of immigrants and various cultures, and a factory town built around a high-speed thrill ride. “We love Disneyland, but this is not Disneyland,” said Bob Weis, se nior vice president of Walter Disney Imaginecring. “This is about all the fun and excitement of Disneyland, but we are going to do a lot more here.” In the factory town, visitors to the park will be able to take a roller coaster through a building modeled after a steel factory, replete with blast ing furnaces. "You’re going to feel like a piece of steel going through a factory on an upside-down roller coaster,” Weis said. Park planners envision heavy reli ance on “virtual reality” techniques and a lot of high technology to take visitors beyond normal rides and at tractions. A person could find him self parachuting into enemy territory or taking part in a harrowing Lewis and Clark-like river expedition. Thursday’s announcement came after a report earlier in the week show ing that the Disney Co. posted a quar terly loss of $77.8 million. Euro Disney, outside Paris, said that its 18-month-old theme park lost $921 million in its first fiscal year. To say Euro Disney is not a suc cess “is not fair,” Rummell said. “It’s having economic problems because of the recession in Europe.” Rummell declined to speculate on the revenue potential of the theme park in Virginia. However, he said he expected attendance to be “more modest” than at Disney World in Or lando, Fla., or Disneyland in Ana heim, Calif, which are reported to draw 30,000 or more a day. He said it would be “priced com petitively” with other attractions in a part of the nation that has been a magnet for tourists.